The 2016 writing contest is co-sponsored by MTEA and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. This year, over 3,400 students entered the contest under the theme, “We Shall Overcome.” Educators, students and families are invited to attend the free public Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Birthday Celebration on Sun., Jan 15, 2017 at 1:00pm at the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts. The writing contest winners will be honored at the celebration along with winners of the speech and art contests. Plan to join us!

Thank you to everyone who participated!

The winning contest entries will also be published in a special section of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in January. All teachers and students who participated will receive buttons and certificates from the Milwaukee Teachers’ Education Association in January. Classroom projects can be picked up at the MTEA at 5130 W. Vliet St. during regular office hours. For questions, contact Melissa Zombor at zomborm@mtea.weac.org or 414-256-6752.

Donations Needed for the Sojourner Family Peace Center

MTEA-R and the MTEA have selected Sojourner Family Peace Center as our partner for the Winter 2016 Community Involvement project. Advocating for and protecting local families escaping violence in their homes, Sojourner Family Peace Center’s services are an integral part of creating a safer community for all. This winter, we ask all members of the MTEA and MTEA-R to donate in one or more of the following ways.

Many of the items above are available at Target or Walgreens in the cosmetics travel section. Members can either buy supplies or build complete Grab N’ Go Bags. Both supplies and completed Grab N’ Bags can be dropped off at the MTEA Office during regular business hours throughout December and January.

Monetary Donations

Personal checks can be made payable to the Sojourner Foundation with “MTEA-R Support” noted on the Memo line. Donators who contribute and use the notation “MTEA-R Support” will NOT go on a solicitation list.Mail checks to:

Sojourner Foundation
619 W Walnut St
Milwaukee, WI 53212

Donate with a credit or debit card online via the Sojourner Family Peace Center website:

Despite the tremendous investment of public dollars, New York has failed to implement a system that adequately monitors charters for fraud, waste and mismanagement, according to the CPD report. While charter schools are subject to reporting requirements and monitoring by oversight bodies, only the New York State Comptroller’s Office audits charter schools with any regularity. The office audited only 51 charter schools in the past five years, out of the more than 200 charter schools in the state.

“These findings are truly disturbing,” said NEA President Lily Eskelsen García. “While some charter school officials spend tens of thousands of public dollars on staff trips to the Bahamas from funds diverted from traditional public schools, New York state’s 90,000 charter school students may not be getting the resources they need and may be missing out on the great education these corporate charter school companies promised.”

Charter school advocates continue to push New York City Mayor Bill DeBlasio to raise or eliminate caps on charter schools so that even more New York schools can be handed over to charter school operators.

“The audacity of some of these operators—to push for more taxpayer dollars while mismanaging the funds they’ve already received—is really astonishing,” said Eskelsen García. “Everyone knows that oversight doesn’t happen when an entity is policing itself. If New York state is going to continue to allow hundreds of charters to exist within its borders, legislators need to commit the resources to provide regular audits and real oversight. It’s ridiculous to consider lifting charter school caps until operators have a firm oversight structure in place and are transparent with their expenditures and practices.”

CPD recommends that the state of New York’s oversight agencies, including the Comptrollers’ offices for New York state and New York City, conduct targeted fraud audits on charter schools once every three years. The state should also impose a moratorium on new charter schools and refrain from increasing the charter school cap until the state oversight system is adequately reformed.

CPD “is shining a spotlight on multiple charter school operators and we’re seeing a sad trend form in terms of corrupt practices,” said Eskelsen García. “Parents and communities deserve to know an operator’s history when considering whether to send their children to these schools. They also deserve transparency so they know what their tax dollars are being spent on, and more importantly, what their money is not being spent on—students.”

MTEA News

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit it became immediately clear there was a massive lack of personal protective equipment. The Masked Sewists of Southeastern Wisconsin stepped up to make sure workers and families had the PPE they needed. Their collective effort has been lifesaving and inspiring to say the least. We visited nine different homes and […]